Faculty & Staff Resources

New Faculty Handbook

The Dean's Office has created a New Faculty Handbook to assist new faculty in the College of Fine Arts as they transition to the University of Utah. The handbook can be utilized by both new and current College of Fine Arts faculty members. It is filled with faculty resources, student resources, grading policies, information about the college, and many other helpful resources to get you started during your first year as a faculty member at the University of Utah. To download a copy of the New Faculty Handbook please click here.

CFA Faculty Search Manual

This new Faculty Search Manual is intended as a resource for Department Chairs/School Directors, Admins, Search Committee Chairs, and Search Committee Members. It is an effort to provide information that will support the college in developing inclusive, fair, and successful search processes aimed at recruiting and hiring excellent candidates. We hope you will find it useful as you navigate the faculty search process. To download a copy of the CFA Faculty Search Manual, please click here.

Faculty Activity Report (FAR)

The College of Fine Arts now uses the online Faculty Activity Report (FAR), developed by the Office of Information Technology (OIT), for collecting information from all faculty (tenure-line, career-line, adjunct, and visiting) in the College. The FAR is an important tool for collecting college-wide information regarding faculty teaching, research, and service activities that can be used for yearly departmental/school and college assessment activities and for preparing reports required by accrediting agencies. Some of the data, such as publications and honors, will also be used to maintain up-to-date college, departmental/school, and faculty profiles. The FAR is to be completed annually to provide the most current information.

If you have questions about listing accomplishments and achievements in this online form, please contact Associate Dean Projansky at or visit the University's FAR Report.

CFA Staff Performance Evaluation

The College of Fine Arts is committed to creating an environment in which staff can flourish and grow. Performance reviews provide an opportunity, at least once a year, for staff members to have a personal conversation with their supervisor about their contribution in the workplace and to get feedback and coaching about their job performance.

STAFF PERFORMANCE REVIEW PROCESS--To be completed by employee and their immediate supervisor:

1. The supervisor will ensure that the employee understands the purpose and the process of the review with the employee. The employee should be instructed on where to find the Performance Review Form and provided with a current job description prior to February 1st. (For a Word Doc version of the form, please click here. For a fillable PDF version of the form, please click here. Note that the Word version will allow you to expand the response areas, but the PDF form will not. If you have a lot of text, we recommend using the Word Doc version.)

2. Employees will fill out the Performance Review Form, either electronically or in hard copy during the Performance Review period. Once the form is completed, the employee returns it to the supervisor. A meeting should be set within a week, allowing for enough time for the supervisor to review the employee's responses.

3. The supervisor reviews the form and inputs comments from their perspective.

4. When the employee and supervisor meet, the conversation can cover issues such as (1) differences in answers to the Performance Review questions, (2) differences in expectations about the quality of work, and (3) a plan for any professional development activities for the employee in the upcomign year.**Note that any plans for reclassifications of the employee need to be communicated to the supervisor, head of the unit, and the Dean.

5. Once the Performance Review is complete, the employee and the supervisor need to sign the printed form. The signature of the employee does not indicate that they agree with everything on the Review Form, only that they have been advised of the contents of the Review.

6. After both the employee and the supervisor have signed the completed form, the employee will upload an electronic scan of the document into the University of Utah Performance Management system (UUPM) which can be accessed here. For a step-by-step guide on how to upload the document to the UUPM system, please click here.

The CFA Staff Performance Review period opens on February 1st and closes on April 30th. All Performance Reviews should be completed by the end of April. Please contact Cami Rives at with any questions.

CFA Fund for Excellence Awards

DESCRIPTION

The Dean will provide Fund for Excellence Awards on a first-come-first-served basis for student projects that illustrate work of particularly high quality, as measured by the criteria listed below. Although the funds are primarily intended for student projects, in certain circumstances particularly worthy faculty projects will also be considered, particularly when they benefit students. All proposed projects should illustrate extraordinary learning and/or research activities. The Fund for Excellence is supported entirely by contributions from generous donors to the College of Fine Arts.

CRITERIA

Financial Matters

In order to receive a Fund for Excellence Award, other College monies must not be available for the project (e.g., FAF, grad travel)

Fund for Excellence Awards are not meant to replace what should be covered in the department's/school's base budget

The relevant department/school must provide some funding for the project

The High Caliber of Fund For Excellence Projects

A Fund for Excellence Award is an indicator of the high caliber of the CFA, as measured by our disciplines. Evidence of high caliber includes, but is not limited to:

- National/international dissemination and impact

- Top-tier location/venue

- A Fund for Excellence Award will be an activity we can report to campus and our disciplines to illustrate the excellence of CFA students

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications will be accepted at any time, but please keep in mind that:

A Fund for Excellence application must be made well in advance of the event

A truly excellent opportunity generally will not be "last minute"

The Dean will review Fund for Excellence applications approximately once a month

The Chair/Director is responsible for submitting the request, along with a statement of support

A Fund for Excellence application must include a clear, detailed, and complete budget